Cholera Epidemics Preparedness

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The arrival of the rainy season marks the beginning of the cholera epidemic risk period for West and Central Africa. A strong program for the control of diarrhoeal diseases is the best preparation for a cholera epidemic. In the long term, improvements of safe water supply, personal hygiene and adequate sanitation are the best means of preventing cholera. This must be coupled with health education, sound epidemiological risk assessment and information of the population. During an outbreak, the best control measures are the early detection of cases and early treatment of patients; in addition the mobilization of the community is important for the implementation of the key control measures.

In order to respond rapidly to the cholera epidemic and to prevent deaths:

  • Communities should have access to adequate quantity of disinfectants and soap to ensure household level water treatment, and soap for hand washing at critical time of hands at critical, access to sanitation facilities. They should be aware of safe behavior related to personal hygiene, sanitation and food safety;
  • Health facilities should have access to adequate quantities of essential supplies, particularly oral rehydration solutions, and intravenous fluids for the immediate care of the inpatients and outpatients as well as chlorine based disinfectant solutions, safe drinking water, adequate disposal sanitation facilities and soap to maintain hygienic conditions;
  • Well trained health workers is a key component of case management and mortality reduction during an outbreak.

A multi-sectoral cholera emergency preparedness and control planshould be developed and aimed at: 1) behavior and social change communication in communities, 2) mitigating environmental risks, and 3) providing an adequate medical response. It should address the following points:

  • Coordination, implementation and monitoring of control measures : what should be done, when and by who; how the information should be flowing, what are the assignment of responsibilities between institutions (and within institutions to staff members), who take decisions, who is responsible at each level;
  • Stocks and Logistics: what is available and what is needed, where the stocks are distributed, how they are distributed, when and how they are refurbished, how to access to;
  • Communication : how to facilitate community dialogue on cholera and diarrhea in the affected areas without creating fear and panic and what communication materials (charts, diagrams, etc.) to produce and pre-position to assist with community dialogue ;
  • National Capacities: how to reinforce the national capacities to ensure that they efficiently implement and monitor the control measures, adequately use the equipment,facilitate community dialogue and disseminate in a persuasive way appropriate messages;
  • Resource Mobilization: how to develop a strategy to mobilize funds and partners rapidly.
  1. Minimum Checklist for Coordination, Implementation & Monitoring of Control Measures

Ensure that UNICEF/WHO offices, including sub offices,are task force on cholera members, involving Programme Communication, WASH, Health and Operation officers.

Ensure that a national coordination committee on cholera is ready to be set-up by the Ministry of Health. As a minimum it should involves the following relevant stakeholders: National Health Authorities including Army Health Authorities, National Water and Sanitation Authorities, National authorities for information and communication, municipality authorities, National Red Cross / Red Crescent Societies, key UN agencies (WHO, UNICEF, OCHA), key mass media organizations, key social networks such as religious leaders, key NGOs, representatives of the civil societies.

Ensure that regional/provincial and district coordination committees on cholera is set-up in regions and districts where cholera is declared. These committees should involve the decentralized services of the National Authorities mentioned here above.

Ensure that district coordination committees on cholera is systematically set-up in neighbouring districts of those where cholera has been declared so as to develop immediate preparedness / risk mitigation microplans (communication, disinfection, hygiene promotion strategies).

Make sure that the Government:1) has an early warning system of surveillance for cholera has been set up as part of the national surveillance system in close collaboration with WHO 2) declare promptly the onset of the cholera outbreak after laboratory confirmation to facilitate early response from partners, 3) has set-up a National Cholera Control Action Plan and defined it at regional and district levels, 4) has identified a laboratory that can rapidly confirm cholera at the beginning of the epidemic, either at national or regional level 5) has produced and pre-positioned materials to assist in community dialogue on cholera and diarrhea 6) has pre-produced radio and TV announcements and posters with effective information on cholera and what people should do about it.

Ensure that a needs assessment is completed in hotspots so that the National Cholera Control Action Plan be relevant and realistic (service coverage, likely problems, national capacities, community social structures for decision-making and information dissemination, water quality of suspect drinking water sources, barriers to behaviour change, latrine construction, waste disposal).

Ensure that a fast track surveillance system is set-upwith the onset of the epidemic (when the epidemics is declared ) with clear channels of information to properly monitor course of the epidemic and improveresponse through of the national action plan and district micro action plans on a daily basis, if necessary.

Ensure active case finding especially with families and in direct neighborhoods of suspected and or confirmed cholera patients.

Intend to predict and calculate attack rates.

  1. Minimum Checklist for Stock and Logistics

Secure stocks of ORS, IV fluids and equipment for rehydration, and antibiotics active against cholera. In an effort to provide clarity and cooperation, an interagency diarrhoeal disease kit has been agreed by the major agencies working in crisis situations. The kit contains four separate modules, however for preparedness, it is recommended to get the full kit that provides treatment for 100 severe cases of cholera in a cholera treatment centre (CTC) and 400 mild or moderate cases of cholera in an oral rehydratation unit (ORU). Information on the content of the kit is available at WHO internet site:

Ensure that there are sufficient chlorine based disinfectants and residual chlorine test kits within the countries to treat water points (urban drinking water networks, wells, boreholes, reservoirs). Preferably use HTH chlorine for water points. Respect guidelines for storing HTH and keep in mind the decrease rate of chlorine concentration (2% per year).

Have family hygiene kits in stocks to distribute at household levels(as a minimum: soap toilet bar,water containers type PVC/PE, collapsible of 10 to 20 litres, HDPE buckets of 10 to 20 litres with lid, water purifying tablets type NaDCC). Ensure that simple instructions are provided, either in picture form or in local languages.

Have additional stocks of chlorine products for the disinfection of water containers at the household level (aquatabs, water floculator and disinfectant such as Pur… depending on the context).

Ensure that there are sufficient soap or ad-hoc agreements with soap factories to ensure large-scale purchase and distribution to hot spots areas.

Have sanitation material in stocks (Sanplat molds, plastic sheeting, picks, shovel…) in order to provide suitable facilities for sanitary human waste disposal in the districts.

Have communication materials and mass media announcements preparedin advance and pre-positioned related to key messages provided at household and health facility levels. Have communication equipment available.

Secure stocks of ORS, IV fluids and equipment for rehydration, and antibiotics active against cholera. In an effort to provide clarity and cooperation, an interagency diarrhoeal disease kit has been agreed by the major agencies working in crisis situations. The kit contains four separate modules, however for preparedness, it is recommended to get the full kit that provides treatment for 100 severe cases of cholera in a cholera treatment centre (CTC) and 400 mild or moderate cases of cholera in an oral rehydratation unit (ORU). Information on the content of the kit is available at WHO internet site:

Ensure sufficient testing stocks for bio-medical laboratories in particular ensure to have proper stocks of Cary-Blaire media available for laboratory samples transportation.

Maintain stocks at appropriate locations. In particular maintain small stocks of essential disinfectants and drugs at health facility levels and larger buffer stocks at district or provincial/regional levels. Maintain an adequate emergency stock at the central level.

Ensure that a proper procedure exists to follow up on stock use and avoid shortages. In particular, during the emergency, monitor cholera attack rates against delivery times of crucial stocks to avoid shortages.

Ensure agreements with partners / contractors for the delivery and distribution of supplies.

  1. Minimum Checklist for Communication

Ensure that a communication strategy has been defined and a communication plan is ready to be rolled out through appropriate channels of communication(mass media campaigns, door to door orpeer awareness techniques, etc)

Make sure that specific materials related to cholera have been developed, printedand pre-positioned for communities and health workers. As a minimum it should include the following messages adapted to local context - 1) for communities: hand washing at critical times, chlorination and using of safe water, protection of water sources, disinfection of water containers, safe defecation practices, promotion of sanitation, safefood consuming practices, safe caregiving and safe household decontamination, 2) for health workers: insist on the highly infectious characteristic of the disease, safe practices for the care of patients, safe mortuary practices, control of nosocomial infections, safe infectious waste management, importance of rehydrating all moderately dehydrated patients primarily with ORS rather that IV fluids, use of antibiotics only for severe dehydrated patients.

Ensure that facilitators for community dialogue on cholera (religious leaders, teachers, etc.) have been identified and that they have access to materials to assist in the discussion.

Ensure that education materials are available

  1. Minimum Checklist for Developing national Capacities

Ensure that Community Health Agents/community leaders, Red Cross Volunteers, and other stakeholders have been trained on how to disseminate messages.

Ensure that health personnelhave been trained in clinical and lab investigation, case management, and preventive measures, and medical and paramedical personnel involved in the treatment of cholera have receive intensive and updated training to ensure that they are familiar with the most effective techniques for the management of patients with cholera.

Ensure that community water technicians have been trained in water point disinfection, free residual chlorine test techniques.

  1. Minimum Checklist for Resource Mobilization

Make sure that Funding Proposals are ready to be updated, with partners on board and roles agreed; and review resource allocation.

Ensure stand-by agreements to implement a rapid response mechanism in particular to implement control measures at community and household levels and launch the communication strategy. Consider developing stand-by agreements with key organizations such as the National Red Cross – Red Crescent Societies and mass media.

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